Publications

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22 Apr 2020
Research Event

How Investors Are Sizing Up Climate Change’s Risks—and Opportunities

March 4, Harvard Business School gathered senior executives, risk experts, and leading investment professionals from some of the world’s largest asset managers to share how they’re approaching these complex questions. The conference,... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

1993
Chapter

Promoting Foreign Investment: Opportunities and Pitfalls for Host Countries

By: L. T. Wells Jr.

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; International Finance; Globalized Economies and Regions

June 1995 (Revised June 1996)
Case

White Nights and Polar Lights: Investing in the Russian Oil Industry

By: Debora L. Spar

In the latter half of the 1980s, the collapse of the Soviet empire created an unprecedented opportunity for Western businesses. Among those most attracted were the oil firms, who rushed to investigate Russia's vast petroleum reserves. But, as they soon discovered,... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Market Entry and Exit; Foreign Direct Investment; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Russia

18 Apr 2024
Lecture

Innovation Opportunities Created by COVID-19 Can Help: And How to Make Them Happen

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

The crush of patients created by COVID enabled the creation of sites for care outside the traditional hospital, such as retail pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care centers, telemedicine, and wireless sensors. Public policy mirrored these changes by... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Health Industry; Insurance Industry

Article

The Role of Finance and Private Investment in Developing Sustainable Cities

By: John D. Macomber

Three trends will drive urban investment, development, and entrepreneurship in the next two decades. This article provides tools to identify the situations and circumstances that will be most favorable for private sector involvement in consideration of these trends.... View Details

Keywords: Trends; Demographics; Private Sector; Investment; City; Infrastructure; Opportunities; Urban Development

Find at Harvard

August 2008
Teaching Note

Tad O'Malley: The Investment Conundrum (TN)

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Teaching Note for [808125]. View Details

Keywords: Investment; Opportunities; Leveraged Buyouts; Personal Development and Career; Resource Allocation

February 2014 (Revised May 2014)
Background Note

Finding the Money: An Overview of Infrastructure Finance Challenges and Opportunities

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Daniel Fox

This overview describes how the United States funds and finances infrastructure investment to maintain its economic competitiveness. It considers the roles of taxpayers, users, government allocators and lenders, and private investors in the infrastructure funding... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Infrastructure; Technology; United States

17 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Entrepreneurship in Asia and Foreign Direct Investment

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is often lauded for bringing economic growth and know-how to developing countries. The conventional wisdom is not necessarily wrong, but the real story is much more nuanced than is commonly believed, says... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

25 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

MNCs in Asia: Investing in the Future

at Harvard Business School. Nicholas Howson, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, focused his comments on developments in China. Corporate investment in China used to be long-term and brand-focused, he said, with an... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

February 2018 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Haier: Incubating Entrepreneurs in a Chinese Giant

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Nancy Hua Dai

CEO Zhang Ruimin must plan how to accelerate the growth of self-managed microenterprises. Platforms were Haier’s business platforms operating in five major sectors: white goods transformation, investment and incubation, financial holdings, real estate, and cultural... View Details

Keywords: China; Microenterprise; Appliances; Platform; Change; Innovation; Opportunities; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transformation; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; China

21 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Searching for Better Practices in Social Investing

philanthropy and a search for 'give us better practices,' " said Nancy Roob, president and CEO of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (EMCF). Joining her on the panel were Matt Bannick (HBS MBA 1993), managing partner of Omidyar Network, a philanthropic View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

09 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

How Social Entrepreneurs Can Increase Their Investment Impact

revenue toward high impact opportunities, then an investment may allow the financier to reallocate funds to other purposes. Does the company have opportunities to expand its profitability at little cost to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

October 2020
Case

HOPE and Transformational Lending: Netflix Invests in Black Led Banks

By: John D. Macomber and Janice Broome Brooks

Following the killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day in 2020, the large US corporation Netflix elected to make a "transformational deposit" of $10 million into Hope Credit Union (HCU), a small Black led community development finance institution (CDFI) based in... View Details

Keywords: Banking; Rural Entrepreneurship; Economic Development; Black Entrepreneurs; Economic Growth; Credit; Banks and Banking; Entrepreneurship; Rural Scope; Development Economics; Race; Investment; Decision Making; Banking Industry

06 Jan 2003
What Do You Think?

China: The Next Big Market Opportunity or the Next Big Bubble?

opportunities and substantial returns on investment of the kind suggested by some are years, perhaps even decades, away. It will require not only caution but also a great deal of patience as barriers to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

July 2022 (Revised September 2024)
Case

York Capital and Enovix

By: William Vrattos, Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In June 2020, Jeremy Blank prepared for a meeting with his fellow partners at York Capital to discuss an investment he had championed in Enovix, a company developing a state-of-the-art, silicon-based battery. Early-stage technology companies, like Enovix, were not... View Details

Keywords: Investment Evaluation; Partners and Partnerships; Investment Portfolio; Judgments; Opportunities

May 2022 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Founder Collective

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

Founder Collective ("FC") launched in 2009 with a clear mission: to be the most aligned fund for founders at the seed stage. In keeping with its mission, FC maintained smaller fund sizes and was not a lifecycle investor. By November of 2021, the seed market had become... View Details

Keywords: Seed Investing; Business Startups; Mission and Purpose; Investment; Competitive Strategy; Venture Capital

23 Jul 2024
In Practice

The New Rules of Trade with China: Navigating Tariffs, Turmoil, and Opportunities

Vietnam. Investing in domestic manufacturing. Some companies, like Intel, have expanded US manufacturing capabilities, supported by new subsidies. However, the true extent to which US tariffs have stemmed the inflow of Chinese exports is... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing; Retail; Fashion; Industrial Products; Consumer Products; Steel; Transportation; Telecommunications

Fall 2017
Article

An Empirical Analysis of Investment Return Dispersion in Emerging Markets Private Equity

By: Josh Lerner and Mark Baker

The authors use transaction-level data to compare the dispersion of private equity (PE) returns in emerging markets (EMs) to the same in developed markets (DMs). They regress within-market absolute deviation from the mean on an EM indicator and controls. They find... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Emerging Markets; Investment Return; Analysis